Hush (2009)

Hush is an incredibly low budget British horror romp which leans towards the likes of Steven Spielbergs Dual, and the Hitcher.

Zakes (William Ash) is a unpublished writer desperately looking for inspiration for his book, until the day comes however that he writes his book he spends his days and nights travelling the motorways sticking up posters in roadside services. On one night he takes his girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) on the road with him, and as there night pans out it seems that there is some volatile ground in their relationship, it could either be at its end, or its beginning.  In a moment the arguments are forgotten as Zakes notices a girl tied up in the back of a passing van. In the minutes that follow things turn upside down and Zakes finds himself alone with his girlfriend in the same vehicle as the girl. As Zakes hits the road to free his girlfriend it seems that the least of his problems are encountering the kidnapper, as everyone seems to want a piece of him.

Hush is clearly low budget from the moment it begins, the acting is not where it should be, but for an edgy and gritty sounding British movie you’re prepared to accept it. Its storyline is straight out of a big budget American shocker, so to see a British spin on this type of movie is a fairly interesting concept.

Despite its budgetary limitations there has been a lot of time and attention put into the movies first opening thirty minutes, and it has so much promise. But then it all goes tragically wrong, the movie moves from the believable to something else, and as it makes this transition it throws up so many rehashes of other successful horror movies of recent years (Hostel being one such movie) that it fails to be something unique and turns from being cutting edge to a predictable and to be frank pathetic shadow of its former self.

The character of Zakes transforms rather unconvincingly from ordinary joe to subhuman on some level, almost terminator like, one minute he is nailed to the floor the next he’s climbing rocks, fences, and walls; with the same punctured hands. We have all seen movies where the hero suffers some sort of deep wound and carries on, but here our hero faces this from the midsection of the movie. If you cut yourself it’s annoying, and in ways very distracting, but imagine whooping great puncture marks.

To add to the subhuman nature of Zakes, you then have this sort of mass conspiracy that seems to encapsulate all the characters that Zakes encounters to some extreme or another. This is no isolated kidnapping this is a form of commodity, and it seems that various people along the motorway have been bought into it, whether for the long or short term. Annoyingly this curveball used to shock is used more than once, and as a result loses its impact.

With no budget for known actors the movie pulls in one name, well a name that some may understand and that is Shaun Dingwall, who through TV show Doctor Who has become quickly established as a solid actor, his brief two minute cameo appears just as the movie loses its credibility rather ironically.

For a low budget movie its not all bad, however if they had kept the movie smaller, more intimate and claustrophobic this movie could have achieved a wider audience and become essentially a British classic instantly.

Just to add to the annoyance the movies main villain spends the film without any reveal as to who he is, or what is making him do these things. And as the credits role (PS don’t switch off too quickly as they begin to roll) you discover he has been given the name “The Tarman” just to induce a sort of pathetic nausea. How much more affective would the movie had been had he been a “real person” with a real name, and a reason behind his crimes exposed.  But no instead we end up with this two dimensional character who you never really get to see right up to the end of the movie.

Hush is without doubt an interesting movie, and something very different for a British offering, but it failed to bring anything knew to me.